Website Design for Artists: How to Launch a Dreamy Website

You’re ready to launch your website, but where do you even start with website design for artists? Which website builder should you use? What pages do you need? Should you worry about SEO, and if so, how do you optimize for it?

These are all common questions I hear from artists who are setting up their online presence. As a brand and website designer who works with artists often, I’ve helped painters, photographers, and other creatives build websites that showcase their work beautifully.

This guide covers everything you need to know about designing an artist website that represents your style and attracts the right clients.

How Do You Design an Artist Website?

Web design influences 94% of all first impressions, so naturally, it matters a lot and can help you grow your business.

Launching a website sounds straightforward until you start the process and realize that there are dozens of decisions to make.

What seemed simple can quickly become overwhelming when you’re choosing colors, layouts, navigation structure, and trying to figure out how everything fits together.

I recommend your process to include 5 main steps in the following order:

1. Create your artist branding: This is your visual identity, including primary logo + logo variations, colors, fonts, and overall artistic style, and you need it before designing your website so everything looks cohesive.
2. Choose your website builder: This is the platform you’ll use to build and manage your site, and it determines how much creative control you’ll have and how easy updates will be.
3. Get your custom domain: This is your website address (like yourname.com), and you need it so people can find your site and so you look professional.
4. Design your website: You’ll build out your pages, add your portfolio, and optimize for mobile + SEO so your site performs well.
5. Launch your website: This is when you make your site live and available for the world to see!

If you’re an artist looking for website design, it’s a good idea to think about the website builder you want to use in advance. This decision affects several other aspects of the process, like where you’ll purchase your domain name and how you’ll handle mobile optimization.

What Is the Best Website Builder for Artists?

A website builder is a platform that lets you create and manage your website without needing to code. Most artist websites use some type of website builder to get their site up and running. Typically, it’s a drag-and-drop editor.

My favorite website builder is Showit.

I think Showit is the best website builder for artists because it offers the best combination of creative freedom and ease of use. You’ll need to update your portfolio and services over time, so working with a platform you feel comfortable with makes a big difference.

Other popular options include:

• Squarespace
• Wix
• WordPress
• Format

That said, Showit remains my top recommendation for artists.

The platform looks beautiful and feels intuitive to work with, but it also has strong technical features that matter for growing your business.

Showit offers separate mobile optimization so you can design specifically for phone users, and it integrates with WordPress for blogging, which gives you strong SEO capabilities to help people find your professional website on Google.

Take a look at these Showit website examples to see what’s possible on the platform!

Things to Consider

1. Do you have your branding?

Your branding is your visual identity, with your logo, color palette, fonts, and the overall look & feel that represents you as an artist.

It makes your business recognizable and helps people understand your artistic style.

A few important things to think about if you’re an artist would be how to display your work in a visually appealing and simple way on your website, and how to make sure your brand personality and perspective as an artist are super clear.

Creating a brand first, and then applying it to your website is a great way to do this, because then, as soon as a potential client arrives at your website, they understand who you are, and they get your “vibe”.

Learn more about branding for creatives and how to build your personal brand as a visual artist.

2. What pages does your website need?

The pages you need depend on what you offer and how you want people to interact with your work.

Most artist websites include a home page, an about page where you share your story, services pages, a portfolio to showcase your art, and a contact page so people can reach you.

If you offer specific services like commissions or live event painting, you’ll want dedicated service pages that explain each offering in detail. Some artists also benefit from location-specific pages if they work in certain cities or regions, which helps with local search results.

If you’re selling prints or originals, you’ll need a shop page with e-commerce capabilities. I like integrating Shopify Starter, Stripe, or WooCommerce into Showit sites for e-commerce. 

Take a look at these live wedding painter website examples to get a sense of their structure!

3. Are you planning to optimize for mobile and SEO?

Mobile optimization and SEO are more technical aspects of website design, but they’re important to think about from the start.

Mobile optimization means making sure your website looks good and works well on phones and tablets. This matters because 70% of people are less likely to return to a site that isn’t mobile-friendly.

On Showit, you can create two separate versions of your site, one for desktop and one for mobile, so you have complete control over how your work appears on smaller screens.

Just fitting the desktop version on the mobile screen wouldn’t look great (even when it’s automatically adjusted), but with Showit, you can create custom versions of your website to make it look beautiful on mobile, too. 

SEO (search engine optimization) is how you help people find your website through Google and other search engines. This includes things like title tags, alt text on images, and having a blog with helpful content.

Again, SEO is one of the big reasons why I recommend Showit as your website builder.

The platform makes on-page SEO user-friendly with simple fields for these elements, and the platform integrates with WordPress for blogging, which strengthens your SEO capabilities overall. Other website builders don’t have as many capabilities, IMO.

4. Do you need a shop to sell your art online?

If you’re planning to sell prints, originals, or other products, you’ll need a platform with e-commerce tools. The best option depends on the size and complexity of your shop.

For small and medium shops, you can integrate e-commerce into Showit. Here’s an example of a Showit website for an artist where I’ve integrated a Shopify shop using Shopify Starter.

For larger shops where you need extensive inventory management and shipping options, you might need a dedicated e-commerce platform like Shopify or another builder that focuses on selling online.

5. Will you work with a designer or DIY?

With most website builders like Showit, Squarespace, and Wix, you have two main options: get a template and customize it yourself, or hire a designer to create a custom site for you.

Professional templates are more affordable and can be a good starting point, but they often require time and effort to customize properly. You might find yourself struggling to make the template look the way you want, especially if you’re not familiar with design or the platform itself.

Working with a designer costs more upfront, but you get a much better result.

A professional web designer handles all the technical details, creates a cohesive look that matches your branding, and optimizes your site for both user experience and search engines. You also save time and avoid the frustration of trying to figure everything out on your own.

Overall, unless you’re very early in your artistic career and simply don’t have the budget, working with a designer on your artist branding and website is the better option.

Website Design Ideas for Artists (Examples)

Korianne Paints

Korianne Paints is a live wedding painter based in Minnesota who creates art with a dedication to realism, romanticism, and portrait accuracy.

I designed her website to feel cozy and luxurious with deep, vibrant colors that reflect her artistic style. The site makes it easy to navigate between her live wedding painting services and studio commission portraits, with dedicated pages for each offering!

Rachel Vaught Art

Rachel Vaught Art is a live wedding and event painter in Columbus, Ohio, who captures weddings, pets, and cherished moments for her clients. I designed her branding and website to be bold, moody, textured, and eclectic, emphasizing the heirloom quality of her work.

Rachel also sells prints and originals through an integrated Shopify shop on her Showit website, so this is a great example of an artist website with a built-in system for e-commerce.

Painted by Sloan

Painted By Sloan is a live wedding painter in Denver, Colorado, who captures weddings across the US. Sloan wanted her website to communicate her aesthetic, which is refined, peaceful, and handmade. I designed an elegant, light, and airy website that showcases her portfolio and service details.

Since Sloan was relocating from Kentucky to Colorado during this project, SEO was a major focus to help her rank for Denver and Colorado-related searches.

Devin Tormey Art

Devin Tormey Art is a live wedding painter for couples in Boston, New England, and throughout the US. She also offers commissioned paintings to capture important moments and memories.

As Devin’s business grew toward a more high-end clientele, I created an earthy yet sophisticated website with custom branding and illustrations. SEO was an important part of this project, and Devin now ranks highly for local search terms, which brings her leads from Google!

Fuerst Paints

Fuerst Paints is led by Steph, a live wedding painter in Detroit, Michigan, who creates high-quality, unique keepsakes for her clients.

She wanted a website with an earthy and artisanal aesthetic that felt uniquely hers. I designed custom illustrations and created a site with a collage-like feel that reflects Steph’s art style. The design also clearly lays out her services in live wedding painting, custom commissions, and original artwork.

Looking for more? Check out these artist website examples or browse my portfolio!

Get Beautiful Website Design for Artists and Creatives

Your art can shine with a website that showcases your work beautifully and represents your creative vision. If you’re ready to build a professional online presence that attracts the right clients and reflects who you are as an artist, I’d love to help.

You can learn more about my design services or get in touch!